2019 Judging Panel
Meet Our 2019 Judges
Ms. Victoria Aguilar is the Founder and Managing Director of The AR Group, LLC – a law and HR consulting firm headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado. As an AV-Preeminent rated, lawyer, Victoria has earned a reputation as a valuable resource to her clients. With more than 24 years of experience providing legal services to Fortune 500 companies including GE, Time Warner Telecom, and US WEST as well as small business clients alike, Victoria can assist clients in resolving diverse issues and concerns.
In addition to her legal experience and qualifications, Victoria is certified as a Senior Professional of Human Resources by both the Human Resource Certification Institute and the Society of Human Resource Managers. Because of her unique qualifications as both a lawyer and HR professional, she has served as the Chief Human Resource Officer for several companies with and without unionized work forces. Given her unique background, Victoria is often called upon to serve as an expert witness in litigation involving employment law and HR policy.
Victoria holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Boston College, graduating with the honor of Summa Cum Laude while also being recognized as a Scholar of the College. Victoria earned her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Minnesota and New Mexico.
Elizabeth Ellis has spent 20 years leading private sector and agricultural development efforts in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. She joined International Development Enterprises (iDE) in 2013, first as Chief Operating Officer before becoming CEO in early 2019. iDE uses the power of businesses – wholly owned social enterprises; large multinational corporations like Kohler and Coca-Cola; and hundreds of small, often family-owned indigenous businesses – to reach millions of people with tangible impact in agriculture, nutrition, WASH, climate change, and women's economic empowerment. She is leading iDE to even greater impact by scaling up iDE's approaches in WASH and agriculture to reach another 20 million more people with products and services that increase their incomes and improve their livelihoods.
Prior to joining iDE, she worked in DC on USAID-funded economic growth and agriculture projects before moving to Morocco, where she helped export the country’s first blueberries into Europe; and then to Nigeria, where she helped raise farm yields and incomes through partnerships with Olam, Heineken, and the Government of Nigeria. Ellis serves as the Vice-Chair of the Posner Center for International Development, and a board member of Hydrologic, an award-winning social enterprise in Cambodia owned by iDE as well as iDE UK and iDE Ghana. Ellis received her MPA/PP from Rutgers University and her BA from Grinnell College in History and Global Development Studies.
Jessica is President/CEO of Longmont Economic Development Partnership, a 501c(6) public/private non-profit economic development organization serving the City of Longmont. Prior to joining Longmont EDP, Jessica was the Senior Industry Development Manager for the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade focusing on retention, expansion and recruitment of businesses specializing in Advanced Manufacturing, Infrastructure Engineering, Electronics, and Technology & Information.
Jessica has also served as the Manager of Business Retention & Expansion and Interim Director of Economic Development for the City of Thornton Office of Economic Development where she focused on the retention and expansion of the city’s existing primary employer base and spearheaded redevelopment efforts in a 600-acre Urban Renewal Area. Jessica started her economic development career in 2003 in the City & County of Broomfield where she also served as President & CEO of the Broomfield Economic Development Corporation from 2009-2011.
Jessica received a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix. She is also a graduate of the Oklahoma University Economic Development Institute and is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD).
Charles Fred is a bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, and 2019 Chair of the Association for Talent Development. He has devoted nearly four decades of his life to discovering new ways for professionals to acquire the skills necessary to compete in industries undergoing major transformation. Considered a pioneer in the e-learning industry, he has founded and led several successful companies that provide learning technologies and services. His bestselling book, Breakaway, is credited with introducing a new framework for organizational learning.
In 2000, Charles founded the Breakaway Group, one of the nation’s fastest growing companies, to improve how health-care providers learn and adopt new technologies. Xerox acquired the Breakaway Group in 2011, and in the process, he became president of their health-care group, providing technology and services worldwide.
Today he focuses on the leadership role of the second-stage entrepreneur and their ability to create sustainable enterprises. TrueSpace, a firm he co-founded with his daughter Jamee, provides crucial know-how and capital for entrepreneurs aspiring to grow and reach the middle markets.
Charles is a longtime resident of Colorado, a journeyman cabinetmaker and an elite masters track athlete. He and his wife, Julie, dedicate much of their time to their family, mentoring entrepreneurs, and giving back to the community.
Suzanne Levy, the founder and president of Bolder Leadership, brings 20 years of expertise to her client relationships. She works with global senior leaders of Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions and fast-growing startups to drive peak individual and organizational performance.
Suzanne partners with senior executives to help catalyze positive change. Leadership takes confidence and courage. Suzanne’s straightforward, insightful approach guides clients to identify behaviors that promote leadership effectiveness, develop sustainable change, sharpen management skills, empower confidence, facilitate strategic thinking and generate action plans for goals achievement.
Before founding Bolder Leadership, Suzanne launched and managed a division of The Walt Disney Co. overseeing publishing, marketing, product, and business development for many television properties. Prior to Disney, she worked in production management at HBO and in advertising at Ammirati and Puris in New York City.
Suzanne has also served on the planning committee of the Executive Coaching Summit, a global network of leadership development experts researching and integrating best practices. She worked as the career coach for Vault.com, a financial and legal industry leader in career support; presented to the group “100 Women in Hedge Funds”; and was featured as the catalyst for the book Becoming Ginger Rogers: How Ballroom Dancing Made Me a Happier Woman, Better Partner, and Smarter CEO and in Brian Tracey’s book, Beat the Curve, by Patrice Tanaka who worked with Suzanne just after 9/11.
Suzanne graduated magna cum laude with a BA from Washington University in St. Louis. She has lived in Paris and practiced martial arts for six years. She lives in Boulder, CO with her husband and two children. She can be found on the hiking trails, in the lap pool and most likely, in the dance studio.
Nolan Mondrow is the founder and CEO of RemoteLock, a Denver-based software company that delivers the ability for any hospitality, commercial enterprise or multi-family property management organization to remotely control and manage any connected door lock from the cloud.
Nolan has served as the CEO of RemoteLock since 2011. Beginning in 1990 with his first business in Nagoya, Japan, he spent the next 30 years founding, managing and developing businesses and has held executive positions at SafeRent, Syngistix and U.S. West (Qwest).
Nolan received an MBA from the University of Michigan Business School, studied at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan and received a BA in International Relations from Tufts University.
There's one thing that Debra is really good at. Money. Or actually, the numbers behind the money. Looking at what’s there, seeing what’s not, finding the truth behind the totals — and strategically building out processes and timelines that make sure a business doesn’t run out of it. She’s cultivated this talent over the last two-plus decades as a business owner and in the leadership positions she’s held in operations, technology and finance. Debra was co-owner and CEO/COO of Travel by Dana, a multi-branch $40M travel management company, ranked #5 in revenue by Colorado Biz’s 2001/2002 Top Women-Owned Businesses awards.
It was in 2008 when Debra decided to bring her cash flow management talents to other businesses. She launched Centennial Revenue Management (CRM) initially to assist healthcare providers with their financial issues. Today, CRM works with businesses across industries whose needs extend beyond the basics of revenue management into total fiscal health. Her passion lies in helping business owners and their teams to better understand their numbers and how to use that knowledge to grow and prosper.
Debra is a fifth-generation Coloradoan whose family started Robinson Dairy in 1885 and are heavily involved in the community. Currently Debra is a member of the Board of Directors for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Rocky Mountain Chapter, and Executive Leadership Committee for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, and has been elected to serve as Treasurer for the Board of Directors. She has been a member of the Colorado Medical Group Management Association (CMGMA), severing on the Legislative Committee, and a member of the American Medical Billing Association (AMBA, as well as served on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community Center in Denver.
Debra’s entrepreneurial spirit — combined with her great work ethic, high integrity and unwavering commitment to performance — are the hallmarks of her success. She has delivered significant results in a wide-range of industries for small to mid-sized businesses and non-profits. Her concentration is always focused on cash flow management, growth, profit, team performance, client satisfaction and most importantly, peace of mind.
Dr. Scott Shrake serves as the Director for the Institute for Entrepreneurship in the College of Business at Colorado State University. As the Director of the Institute, Dr. Shrake promotes entrepreneurship, innovation, product development, and commercialization for students, faculty, and community members.
Previously, Scott served as an engineering faculty member and the Executive Director of Entrepreneurial Advancement at Arizona State University, a leader in higher education entrepreneurship and innovation. Scott continues to engage at ASU as a Venture Mentor for the Venture Devils entrepreneurial program. Dr. Shrake’s passion is social impact and launching innovative, cutting edge programming to promote venture creation, and personal development at universities across the globe.
Dr. Shrake was the Co-founder and COO of Vicinity Health Inc., a digital health startup that was selected as a finalist for the TiE 50 Awards Program and recognized as one of the 100 hottest global tech startups in 2014. He has also served as a mentor and advisor to multiple startups in education technology, health care, and sustainability.
Scott received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh’s Sustainability and Green Design Group.